Quality Time With "Veronica"

Recently, I did something that I haven't done in such a long time on my university campus - I had quality time with a friend and we spent almost 2 hours just talking, making lame jokes, and just having some bit of fun. Considering we're down to the wire (our final week of the Spring Semester), I was somewhat surprised that we somehow made some time to just talk and develop our friendship together, and getting to know more about each other.

Spending time with "Veronica" (not her real name, but she did request that I use that pseudonym for her) was quite an exquisite respite from the inexorable pressures of these remaining few weeks. I haven't had this type of quality time with a fellow friend and classmate in months. It seems that I have spent just about all of my free time studying and conducting research for two demanding essays and reading the text for four classes in our campus library. Now that it's all behind me (for the most part), it was a nice change of pace to be outside, enjoying the gentle breeze, the flora, the fauna (just some squirrels, really), people watching, and the company of a friend. I hope to have more experiences in the future. I can't help but feel these little moments create those defining "college moments" that many of us fondly recall as we age over time.

"Could You Say That Again?"

Since I posted the last post, I've got to admit that I'm a sucker for accents, especially those that are German, English, Russian and French. In the few years that I've worked at my little gas station, I've had the incredible pleasure of meeting men and women from England, Scotland, France, Norway, Germany, Italy, Australia and a few places here or there that I can't remember. And I'm entranced by their accents, especially from the women. It always catches me off-guard whenever I encounter someone from outside the US, since it's an experience that I don't have on a daily basis. It wasn't until recently that I noticed that whenever a foreign woman (especially if she's English or French) talks to me, I just space out. I get lost in the fragile words that gently fall from her lips, and after she's done addressing me, I embarrassingly have to say, "Could you say that again?" because I wasn't paying attention to them in the first place.

I always tell my co-workers that these women could just down-right be insulting, calling me the Scum of the Earth and such, and my reaction would only be, "Could you say that again?" since all I heard were the words that came from her mouth and not the message formed from those words. In other words, I'd care more about how she said those words rather than what she said with those words. I've always found a woman's German or Russian accent to be sexy, alluring; on the other side of the coin, I find English and French accents to be romantic, inviting. I always joke with friends and family that I would someday move to a European country with the hope of marrying someone from there. Right now, it's a 3-way tie between Europe's England and France, along with Eurasia's Russia.

All joking aside, I would still like to visit a country or two across the pond. I don't really travel much, since I don't really have the money to do so. I'm somewhat envious of others who have indeed traveled. Although, if I do choose to travel, what can I do for fun? What kind of food to eat? Would I meet new people and find new friends? So many questions. The only way to know for sure is to just go for it and visit those lands so strange from my own, with different cultures, social constructs, and perspectives of life, food, music, and so much more.